About Us

I received my doctorate in Health and Social Psychology from North Dakota State University in 2005. I also hold MS and BS degrees in Psychology from Montana State University – Billings. I completed a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington’s Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors in 2007. Prior to joining the UNTHSC School of Public Health in 2018, I was a member of the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington from 2007 to 2017. Throughout my career, I have focused on uncovering why adolescents and young adults engage in health-risk behavior and how we can, in turn, use that knowledge to identify protective and risk factors as well as prevent risk. My scholarly interests and pursuits focus on advancing the understanding of the dual processing nature of decisions to engage in health-risk behaviors and to inform theoretically sound and efficacious alcohol use and related risky sexual behavior interventions among adolescents and young adults. Alcohol use and concomitant risky sexual behavior are public health concerns (in terms of incidence and consequences) that often initiate during adolescence. Adolescents and young adults experience consequences associated with alcohol use and risky sexual behavior; thus, testing models with a focus on health-risk behaviors during adolescence and young adulthood is of critical importance. For many adolescents and young adults, when they begin drinking, they do so in an extreme fashion, with frequent heavy-episodic drinking episodes. Given the clear risks associated with heavy-episodic drinking (e.g., sexual assault, risky sexual behavior, injuries, death), why do so many adolescents and young adults begin or persist in known risky behaviors? What factors place some individuals at greater risk for negative consequences than others? How can we use our knowledge of risk and protective factors in interventions to reduce harm? These are precisely the type of questions my research seeks to answer. My research connects with my value to conduct research that has potential to make a significant impact to public health. I value research and policy that aims to expand prevention and intervention to adolescents and young adults. Our health services need to meet the needs of young adults and incorporate technology to bring preventative interventions to adolescents and young adults, with potential for significant impact on public health. My program of research has been funded by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, and the Alcohol Beverage Medical Research Foundation.

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Systems in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. I received my doctorate in Applied Social Psychology from The George Washington University in 2010. And completed a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington’s Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors in 2012. Prior to joining the UNTHSC School of Public Health, I was a member of the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2017. The overarching goal of my work is to advance the field in understanding the social and environmental factors that influence health risk behavior decision-making in order to inform theoretically sound and efficacious substance use prevention efforts for adolescents and young adults. Consistent with my overarching interests in the influence of socially based variables on health risk behaviors, my current research aims to address questions related to the utility of including socially-based variables in prevention programming, particularly with respect to social images, social comparison, social norms (both for peers who abstain from alcohol and peers who use alcohol) and social networking sites. In my spare time I volunteer for a local dog rescue and enjoy exploring Fort Worth with my own rescue dog, Teddy.

I am a Research Assistant in Dr. Melissa Lewis’ and Dr. Dana Litt’s Studying Alcohol and Related Risks (STARR) Research Lab. I received my B.A. in Psychology with minors in Counseling and Spanish from the University of North Texas. During my undergraduate studies I was a research assistant and recruitment coordinator for the Teen Stress and Alcohol Research (St.A.R.) Laboratory directed by Dr. Heidemarie Blumenthal, working on research pertaining to adolescent anxiety and substance use. Post-graduation I worked as a full time project coordinator for the Mood and Psychopathology Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Camilo Ruggero where I oversaw a research grant pertaining to the HiTOP system.